16 people, including social media phenomena, were arrested. The arrest warrant was issued for the crime of fraud. It was alleged that the criminal network defrauded people by stating that it had won an award and demanding the “tax” of the award.
Among those arrested are Simge Baranoğlu and Yeşim Aydın.
According to the news of T24, Izmir Provincial Police Department Cyber Crime Branch started an investigation on the criminal network, which claimed that it won a prize money on social media and demanded the tax of the prize from the citizens. The security forces in question determined that the criminal network deceived the citizens with the lie that they won a prize money from the game played on social media, but that they could get the prize by paying a certain amount of tax.
The police detained 18 people, including social media phenomenon Simge Baranoğlu and Yeşim Aydın, during the simultaneous operations on 10 November. While 16 people, including Baranoğlu and Aydın, were arrested, 2 people were released.
Yeşim Aydın
The arrested Baranoğlu’s statement is as follows, “I am a social media phenomenon. I earn my living by advertising. This action, which was the subject of the investigation, was like other advertisements. I do not know the parties and the complainants. I do not accept the accusations,” he said.
Another arrested social media phenomenon, Yeşim Aydın’s statement, is as follows: “I make my living by advertising on social media. These people contacted me and said they wanted to advertise. I accepted because that’s my job. If I had known that such a fraudulent crime had been committed, I would never have accepted it. I learned at the police that the names and surnames given to me were fake. I didn’t try to defraud anyone. I did not contact any of the customers, I did not ask for money. I just got the advertising fee. I am very sorry,” he said.
It is not yet clear when the two arrested social media phenomena will appear in court.
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